Monthly Archives: January 2010

Have you seen him who denies the Recompense? (1)
That is he who repulses the orphan (harshly), (2)
And urges not on the feeding of AlMiskîn (the poor)(3)
So woe unto those performers of Salât (prayers) (hypocrites)(4)
Those who delay their Salât (prayer from their stated fixed times)(5) Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men)(6)
And prevent Al-Mâ’ûn (small kindnesses like salt, sugar, water). (7)

Revealed in : Mekkah

The Surah

In this Surah Allah says to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., “Have you seen those who denies the Deen?” 107 :1

In this verse, Deen means the HEREAFTER, the RECOMPENSE and the FINAL REWARD.

Then Allah gives the characteristics of these people

1. Those who repulses the orphans

– those who oppresses the orphans

– does not give him just due

– does not feed him

– nor is he kind to him

2. Those who urges not the feeding of the poor.

The hardness of the heart is a sign of disbelief of the Hereafter. This is because of the extreme stinginess and greed.

Nay! But you treat not the orphans with kindness and generosity (i.e. you neither treat them well, nor give them their exact right of inheritance)! (17) And urge not one another on the feeding of AlMiskîn (the poor)! (18)

3. Heedless of their solah

Then Allah continues the verse by cursing the deniers of the YAUMUDDIN. Allah curses those who are heedless of their solah. Of which in their solah are SAHUN.

Ibn Abbas says:

These are the hypocrites. Who pray in public but not in private.

They are those who pray and adhere to the prayer but yet are mindless of it.

Or those who prayed outside the legislated time.

Or those who delay their prayer until the very last minute.

Or those who do not fulfill the pillars and conditions.

Those who do not pray in humility and contemplating its meanings.

Beware that that whoever has these characteristics then he has a share of this ayah. Be aware that Allah curses them.

The Qur’an

Malik :: Book 15 : Hadith 15.10.46

Yahya related to me from Malik that al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, “We visited Anas ibn Malik after dhuhr and he stood up and prayed asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, or he mentioned it, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of Shaytan, or on the horn of Shaytan, and then gets up and rattles off four rakas, hardly remembering Allah in them at all.’ “

The Book of Prayers (Kitab Al-Salat)

Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 1301

‘Ala’ b. ‘Abd al-Rahman reported that they came to the house of Anas b. Malik in Basra after saying the noon prayer. His (Anas) house was situated by the side of the mosque. As revisited him he (Anas) said: Have you said the afternoon prayer? We said to him: It is just a few minutes before that we finished the noon prayer. He said: Offer the afternoon prayer. So we stood up and said our prayer. And when we completed it, he said: I have heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) saying: This is how the hypocrite prays: he sits watching the sun, and when it is between the horns of devil, he rises and strikes the ground four times (in haste) mentioning Allah a little during it.

This hadith describes how a hypocrite prays. He waits until the last minute of asr, and in haste stand to pray. Pecking the ground like a bird. And when he prays, he doesn’t even remember Allah (except very little) in it.

He probably only stand so that people will see him pray and not seeking the face Allah. This is just as not praying at all.

Allah says in surah An Nissa’

Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allâh, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salât (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allâh but little. (142)

4. Do good deeds to be seen

The sixth verse is a continuation of Allah’s curse. Allah curses those who do good deeds only to be seen.

However if one does a good deed solely for Allah, but people come to know of that and is pleased with it, then this is not considered as showing off.

And also there are times that we cannot avoid doing good deed without people seeing us do it. But we should NOT stop ourselves from doing good deeds just because we fear that people think we are showing off. This is aso Shaytan’s trick. He tricks in many ways

1. either to make him do a good deed in order to show off and for the sake of his reputation, and not sincerely for the sake of Allaah,

2. or to make him refrain from doing the good deed altogether.

Most important thing is we must be SINCERE to do a deed for Allah.

And the deed we are doing, are usually done even in private. For instance nawafil prayers.

And if we are praised by people, then it is glad tiding for you as long as you don’t get big headed for it. 😛

Here is a good dua to say when one is praised,

Oh Allah do not call me into account for what they say and forgive me for what they have no knowledge of and make me better than what they imagine.

“Islam has been built upon five things – on testifying that there is no god save Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger; on performing salah; on giving the zakah; on Hajj to the House; and on fasting during Ramadhan.”

This hadith is similar to the second hadith. But this one stresses on the fundamental of Islam. And it compares the fundamental aspects to the pillars or structures of building. If one fulfills these pillars, he has laid a solid foundation of building his deen.

The other acts of Islam, which is not included as mentioned here is completes the fine touches of the deen.

Failing these obligations, the entire structure of the deen is threatened. The most important pillar is the shahadah. Not believing in it destroys the rest of the deeds.

Using Metaphors
The quran and hadith often use metaphors and similes to affirm a certain point. Or to make clear a certain meaning.

1. At Taubah 9:109

Is it then he who laid the foundation of his building on piety to Allâh and His Good Pleasure better, or he who laid the foundation of his building on the brink of an undetermined precipice ready to crumble down, so that it crumbled to pieces with him into the Fire of Hell. And Allâh guides not the people who are the Zâlimûn (cruel, violent, proud, polytheist and wrong-doer). (109)

comparing the sructure of a Mu’min’s deen which is solid compared to the weak structure of a munafiq. And the weak structure will bring to the collapse of his deen and thus hellfire.

2. Surah An Nur 24:35

Allâh is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east (i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning) nor of the west (i.e. nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allâh guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allâh sets forth parables for mankind, and Allâh is All-Knower of everything. (35)

Using the metaphor of light as guidance in the heart of mu’min.

A metaphor used to condemn those who fail to fulfill the amanah (i.e. religious obligations) can be found in Surah Al-Jumu’ah (62): ayat 5. The Bani Israel, having failed to obey Allah’s commandments in the Taurah, are described as a donkey which is burdened with heavy books on its back but doesn’t understand anything from them. Scholars have said that this metaphor also applies to other nations, which fail to fulfill their amanah.

In one hadith the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, divided the status of his ummah into three categories: those who benefit from the Message, those who benefit partially and those who fail to benefit at all. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, used the metaphor of rain (as the Message) falling down on different types of land, producing different results.

Using metaphors to convey the Message is a very important ‘tool’ and it is the methodology used in the Quran and by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. There are many modes of expression used in the Quran and Hadith and they are used for different purposes. E.g. Dealing with the misconceptions and false assumptions of the disbelievers, the Quran and Hadith use rational thinking. When describing Jannah and the Hellfire, the style used by the Quran and Hadith is the visual mode of expression – they are described in such detail that it is like we can actually visualize Jannah or the Hellfire in front of us.

One of the Sahabahs said that he had already seen Jannah and the Hellfire. The other Sahabahs were puzzled and asked him how this could be so as nobody is able to see them until the Hereafter. He replied, “I saw them through the eyes of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. If I were to be given the chance to see Jannah and the Hellfire with my own eyes, I would not trust my sight. I trust the eyes of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, more than I trust my own eyes.” Here we can conclude that if we read and understand the Quran and the Hadiths we too can visualize the paradise and the Hellfire.

These modes of expression (thinking styles) used by the Quran and Hadith should be well understood and used by Muslims today to convey the Message of Islam when doing da’wah as it is the most effective way. Different styles should be used to reach/convince different people – some people are more emotional, some are more rational, etc.

First Pillar : The Shahadah

The first part of the Shahadah is testifying that there is none worthy of worship except Allah.

There are seven conditions of the Shahadah:

* Knowledge – to understand what it means
* Certainty – to have no doubt about anything confirmed in the Quran or Sunnah
* Acceptance – by the tongue and the heart of whatever the Shahadah implies
* Submission/compliance – the actual physical enactment by deeds
* Truthfulness – to say the Shahadah sincerely, with honesty, to actually mean it
* Sincerity – to do it solely for the sake of Allah
* Love – to love the Shahadah and to love its implications and requirements and what it stands for

The Shahadah is not simply saying it with our tongue. We need to adhere to these conditions. If we say the Shahadah sincerely and with honesty, we will not do anything which contradicts with or violates the Shahadah.

The second part of the Shahadah carries the following conditions:

* To believe in the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and in whatever he told us and conveyed to us
* To obey him in whatever he commanded us to do
* To stay away from or avoid whatever he commanded us not to do
* To follow or emulate him in our ibadah, akhlaq and way of life
* To love him more than we love ourselves, our family and anything else in this world
* To understand, practice and promote his Sunnah in the best way possible, without creating any chaos, enmity or harm

Establishing solah means
* Doing the wudu in the proper way
* To do the salah in its time
* To do it in congregation (jama’ah) – where the reward is 27 times than praying alone
* To fulfill the six conditions of salah
* To observe the proper manners (adab) of doing it such as submission and humility
* To follow preferable actions (sunnan) in our salah

Zakat must be taken out in certain percentages if we own a propert under certain condition. When we earn, we must learn how much we should give as zakat.

Pillar No 4 : Hajj

Pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House (Kaabah) is an obligation that we need to do only once in our lifetime – only if we meet certain conditions, e.g. if we have the financial means, a way of travelling peacefully, etc. If we meet these conditions then we should perform the Hajj as soon as possible and not to delay it.

Pillar No 5 : fasting

Fasting in ramadhan is obligatory to all Muslims.It’s also an intensive training programme for al Muslims. The month that we are more motivated to perform so many deeds possible.

And among His Signs is your sleep by night and by day, and your seeking of His Bounty. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who listen. Ar Room 30:23

And We have made your sleep as a thing for rest An Naba 78:9

We were talking about sleep the other day. The REM, dreams and how much sleep we all need. The need to sleep early and all. What better way is to tell the children about sleep if it is not an Islamic way. The sunnah way. Sleep is after all one of the major activity in our daily lives.

Manners of Sleeping

1. Do brush your teeth. This is not part of the sunnah (please correct me if I am wrong). But a good habit to do

2. Have wudoo on you. One should sleep as soon as one finishes their Isyak prayer. So try to keep your wudhu’ until you sleep.

With wudhu’ Shaytan will be less able to disturb us in our sleep, Insya Allah.

3a. We must make sure all the doors are locked. And if we are using lamps, candles and fire, we must extinguish them before sleeping.

Allah’s Apostle said, “(At bedtime) cover the utensils, close the doors, and put out the lights, lest the evil creature (the rat) should pull away the wick and thus burn the people of the house.”

3b. When we close the door, recite Allah’s name over it

Drinks
Bukhari :: Book 7 :: Volume 69 :: Hadith 527

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:

Allah’s Apostle said, “When night falls (or when it is evening), stop your children from going out, for the devils spread out at that time. But when an hour of the night has passed, release them and close the doors and mention Allah’s Name, for Satan does not open a closed door. Tie the mouth of your water-skin and mention Allah’s Name; cover your containers and utensils and mention Allah’s Name. Cover them even by placing something across it, and extinguish your lamps. “

Mention Allah’s name for Shaytan cannot open closed doors. We want to try our best so that Shaytan does not mix with us.

3c. From the hadith above, it is clear that we must also cover our containers and utensils even by placing something across it.

The Book of Drinks (Kitab Al-Ashriba)
Muslim :: Book 23 : Hadith 4991
Jabir reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:Cover vessels, waterskins, close the doors and extinguish the lamps, for the Satan does not loosen the waterskin, does not open the door and does not uncover the vessels. And if one amongst you fails to find (something) to cover it well, he should cover it by placing (a piece of) wood across it. Qutaiba did not mention the closing of the doors in the hadith transmitted by him.

4. Dusting the bed before lying down

The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness (Kitab Al-Dhikr)
Muslim :: Book 35 : Hadith 6554

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as say- ing: When any one of you goes to bed, he should take hold of the hem of his lower garment and then should clean (his bed) with the help of that and then should recite the name of Allah for he himself does not know what he left behind him on his bed, and when he intends to lie on bed, he should lie on his right side and utter these words:” Hallowed be Allah, my Lord. It is with Thine (grace) that I place my side (upon the bed) and it is with Thee that I take it up (after sleep), and in case Thou withholdst my being (if thou causest me to die), then grant pardon to my being, and if Thou keepst (this process of breathing on), then protect it with that with which Thou protected Thine pious servants.”

The Prophet said, “When anyone of you goes to bed, he should dust it off thrice with the edge of his garment, and say: Bismika Rabbi wada’tu janbi, wa bika arfa’hu. In amsakta nafsi faghfir laha, wa in arsaltaha fahfazha bima tahfaz bihi ‘ibadaka-s-salihin.”

Allah’s Apostle said to me, “When you want to go to bed, perform ablution as you do for prayer, then lie down on your right side and say: ‘Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu Amri ilaika wa aljatu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika, lamalja’a wa la manja mink a ill a ilaika. Amantu bikitabi kalladhi anzalta wa bi nabiyyikal-ladhi arsalta’. If you should die then (after reciting this) you will die on the religion of Islam (i.e., as a Muslim); so let these words be the last you say (before going to bed)” While I was memorizing it, I said, “Wa birasiulikal-ladhi arsalta (in Your Apostle whom You have sent).’ The Prophet said, “No, but say: Wa binabiyyi-kalladhi arsalta (in Your Prophet whom You have sent).”

When the Prophet went to bed at night, he would put his hand under his cheek and then say, “Allahumma bismika amutu wa ahya,” and when he got up, he would say, “Al-Hamdu lil-lahi al-ladhi ahyana ba’da ma amatana, wa ilaihi an-nushur.”

In these hadiths we learn that
1. To sleep on our right side
2. To place our right cheek on our right hand.

Continuation from our last seerah session. We last talked about events at Jabal thawr and had special mentioning of our heroin Asmaa bint Abu Bakr r.a.

Today we continued the story of the journey up to the arrival at the outskirts of Madina i.e. Quba’ and the construction of the first masjid of Islam, Masjid Quba’. We read the children’s book, The Story of Muhammad s.a.w. in Madinah by Abu Zahir.

Ash Shamus bint An Nu’man said that she looked at Allah’s Messenger s.a.w. when he arrived and built the mosque and she saw him carry stones until he became bent over by the stones and she could see the whiteness of the dust on his stomach. A man from the Companions came and said, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah, give it to me and I will be sufficient.” But he replied, “No, take one like it.” He carried on working until it was built.

Reward of an Umrah

Sahl bin Hunaif r.a. narrated that Allah’s Messenger s.a.w. said,

Whoever went out until he came to the mosque, Quba’s mosque and prayed therein, it would be equivalent to performing Umrah (in reward)

Al mustadrak by Al Hakim and was authenticated and confirmed by the researchers Allush.

Mentioning in The Quran

Masjid Quba was made reference in the Quran (Tawbah 9:108). Allah encourages His Prophet s.a.w. to pray in Masjid Quba’s, which, from the first day, was built on taqwa, obedience of Allah and His Messenger s.a.w., for gathering the word of the believers and as an outpost and a fort for Islam and its people.

This verse is also sent down to not allow the Prophet s.a.w. to pray in a masjid near Quba which was built by the hypocrites of Madinah as a fort against Islam.

Verily, the mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety is more worthy that you stand therein (to pray). In it are men who love to clean and to purify themselves. And Allâh loves those who make themselves clean and pure (i.e. who clean their private parts with dust [which has the cleansing properties of soap) and water from urine and stools, after answering the call of nature]. (Tawbah 9:108)

Masjid Ad-Dirar and Masjid At-Taqwa

The reason behind revealing these honorable Ayat is that before the Messenger of Allah migrated to Al-Madinah, there was a man from Al-Khazraj called “Abu `Amir Ar-Rahib (the Monk).” This man embraced Christianity before Islam and read the Scriptures. During the time of Jahiliyyah, Abu `Amir was known for being a worshipper and being a notable person among Al-Khazraj. When the Messenger of Allah arrived at Al-Madinah after the Hijrah, the Muslims gathered around him and the word of Islam was triumphant on the day of Badr, causing Abu `Amir, the cursed one, to choke on his own saliva and announce his enmity to Islam. He fled from Al-Madinah to the idolators of Quraysh in Makkah to support them in the war against the Messenger of Allah . The Quraysh united their forces and the bedouins who joined them for the battle of Uhud, during which Allah tested the Muslims, but the good end is always for the pious and righteous people. The rebellious Abu `Amir dug many holes in the ground between the two camps, into one of which the Messenger fell, injuring his face and breaking one of his right lower teeth. He also sustained a head injury. Before the fighting started, Abu `Amir approached his people among the Ansar and tried to convince them to support and agree with him. When they recognized him, they said, “May Allah never burden an eye by seeing you, O Fasiq one, O enemy of Allah!” They cursed him and he went back declaring, “By Allah! Evil has touched my people after I left.” The Messenger of Allah called Abu `Amir to Allah and recited the Qur’an to him before his flight to Makkah, but he refused to embrace Islam and rebelled. The Messenger invoked Allah that Abu `Amir die as an outcast in an alien land, and his invocation came true. After the battle of Uhud was finished, Abu `Amir realized that the Messenger’s call was still rising and gaining momentum, so he went to Heraclius, the emperor of Rome, asking for his aid against the Prophet . Heraclius gave him promises and Abu `Amir remained with him. He also wrote to several of his people in Al-Madinah, who embraced hypocrisy, promising and insinuating to them that he will lead an army to fight the Messenger of Allah to defeat him and his call. He ordered them to establish a stronghold where he could send his emissaries and to serve as an outpost when he joins them later on. These hypocrites built a Masjid next to the Masjid in Quba’, and they finished building it before the Messenger went to Tabuk. They went to the Messenger inviting him to pray in their Masjid so that it would be a proof that the Messenger approved of their Masjid. They told him that they built the Masjid for the weak and ill persons on rainy nights. However, Allah prevented His Messenger from praying in that Masjid. He said to them,

«إِنَّا عَلَى سَفَرٍ وَلَكِنْ إِذَا رَجَعْنَا إِنْ شَاءَ الله»

(If we come back from our travel, Allah willing.)” When the Messenger of Allah came back from Tabuk and was approximately one or two days away from Al-Madinah, Jibril came down to him with the news about Masjid Ad-Dirar and the disbelief and division between the believers, who were in Masjid Quba’ (which was built on piety from the first day), that Masjid Ad-Dirar was meant to achieve. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah sent some people to Masjid Ad-Dirar to bring it down before he reached Al-Madinah. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said about this Ayah (9:107), “They are some people of the Ansar to whom Abu `Amir said, `Build a Masjid and prepare whatever you can of power and weapons, for I am headed towards Caesar, emperor of Rome, to bring Roman soldiers with whom I will expel Muhammad and his companions.’ When they built their Masjid, they went to the Prophet and said to him, “We finished building our Masjid and we would like you pray in it and invoke Allah for us for His blessings.”Allah revealed this verse,

[لاَ تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا]

(Never stand you therein), until,

[الْظَّـلِمِينَ]

(…wrongdoers) ” Allah said next,

[وَلَيَحْلِفَنَّ]

(they will indeed swear), those who built it,

[إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلاَّ الْحُسْنَى]

(that their intention is nothing but good.) by building this Masjid we sought the good and the comfort of the people. Allah replied,

[وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ]

(Allah bears witness that they are certainly liars) for they only built it to harm Masjid Quba’, and out of disbelief in Allah, and to divide the believers. They made it an outpost for those who warred against Allah and His Messenger , such as Abu `Amir the Fasiq who used to be called Ar-Rahib, may Allah curse him! Allah said,

[لاَ تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا]

(Never stand you therein), prohibiting His Prophet and his Ummah from ever standing in it in prayer.

Taken from Ibn Kathir tafsir At Tawbah 9:107

Lessons From This

1. May we be among those with ilmu and practise it.

2. Allah does not allow us to worship at a place where the purpose of built is to disunite the disbelievers.

3.Masjid Quba’s is the first masjid in Islam

4. Rasulullah s.a.w. himself helped build the masjid

5. Whoever pray in Masjid Quba’ will be rewarded with an equivalent umrah

6. Masjid Quba’s is also referred as Masjid Taqwa in the Quran. Of which it is built on piety.